ESPNChicago.com Bulls blog

Both players have been dealing with sore knees and have missed practice the past two days. Deng missed Monday night's game against the Atlanta Hawks because his knee was swollen.

"Everyone's in as far as I know, other than Joakim [Noah with plantar fasciitis], obviously," coach Vinny Del Negro said after Thursday morning's shootaround. "Hopefully Lu can loosen up tonight. He's a little bit better. Derrick's a little bit better. They're not 100 percent, but they're not going to be until after the season, when we get a little rest."

Del Negro does not expect Rose to be limited at all.

"I don't think so," he said. "Let's see how he loosens up out there. But he hasn't practiced. Hopefully him and Luol, if I see that they're struggling or that they can't do certain things, then obviously that will be a concern. I expect them both to play, and [we'll] see how they loosen up."

Rose said that he is doing fine despite the fact that he has banged both his left and right knees over the past two games.

"The left one is fine. The right one is a little swollen," he said. "The pain really isn't there right now. But we'll have to see in the game."

Nick Friedell is the Chicago Bulls beat reporter for ESPN Chicago. Friedell is a graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and joined ESPNChicago.com for its launch in April 2009.